II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1491 

To amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act with respect to the 

Native Villages of Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and 

Wrangell, Alaska, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 29, 2017 

Ms. MURKOWSKI (for herself and Mr. SULLIVAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act with 

respect to the Native Villages of Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell, Alaska, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘ANCSA Unrecognized 

5 Community Landless Natives Authorization Act of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. UNRECOGNIZED SOUTHEAST ALASKA NATIVE COM2 MUNITIES RECOGNITION AND COMPENSA3 TION. 

4 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to re5 dress the omission of the southeastern Alaska commu6 nities of Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and 

7 Wrangell from eligibility by authorizing the Native people 

8 enrolled in the communities— 

9 (1) to form Urban Corporations for the commu10 nities under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement 

11 Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.); and 

12 (2) to receive certain settlement land pursuant 

13 to that Act. 

14 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF ADDITIONAL NATIVE COR15 PORATIONS.—Section 16 of the Alaska Native Claims Set16 tlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1615) is amended by adding at 

17 the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(e) NATIVE VILLAGES OF HAINES, KETCHIKAN, PE19 TERSBURG, TENAKEE, AND WRANGELL, ALASKA.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Native residents of 

21 each of the Native Villages of Haines, Ketchikan, 

22 Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell, Alaska, may or23 ganize as Urban Corporations. 

24 ‘‘(2) EFFECT ON ENTITLEMENT TO LAND.— 

25 Nothing in this subsection affects any entitlement to 

26 land of any Native Corporation established before 


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1 the date of enactment of this subsection pursuant to 

2 this Act or any other provision of law.’’. 

3 (c) SHAREHOLDER ELIGIBILITY.—Section 8 of the 

4 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1607) 

5 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(d) NATIVE VILLAGES OF HAINES, KETCHIKAN, 

7 PETERSBURG, TENAKEE, AND WRANGELL.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall enroll 

9 to each of the Urban Corporations for Haines, 

10 Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, or Wrangell those 

11 individual Natives who enrolled under this Act to the 

12 Native Villages of Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, 

13 Tenakee, or Wrangell, respectively. 

14 ‘‘(2) NUMBER OF SHARES.—Each Native who 

15 is enrolled to an Urban Corporation for Haines, 

16 Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, or Wrangell pursu17 ant to paragraph (1) and who was enrolled as a 

18 shareholders of the Regional Corporation for South19 east Alaska on or before March 30, 1973, shall re20 ceive 100 shares of Settlement Common Stock in the 

21 respective Urban Corporation. 

22 ‘‘(3) NATIVES RECEIVING SHARES THROUGH IN23 HERITANCE.—If a Native received shares of stock in 

24 the Regional Corporation for Southeast Alaska 

25 through inheritance from a decedent Native who 


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1 originally enrolled to the Native Village of Haines, 

2 Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, or Wrangell and 

3 the decedent Native was not a shareholder in a Vil4 lage or Urban Corporation, the Native shall receive 

5 the identical number of shares of Settlement Com6 mon Stock in the Urban Corporation for Haines, 

7 Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, or Wrangell as the 

8 number of shares inherited by that Native from the 

9 decedent Native who would have been eligible to be 

10 enrolled to the respective Urban Corporation. 

11 ‘‘(4) EFFECT ON ENTITLEMENT TO LAND.— 

12 Nothing in this subsection affects entitlement to 

13 land of any Regional Corporation pursuant to sec14 tion 12(b) or 14(h)(8).’’. 

15 (d) DISTRIBUTION RIGHTS.—Section 7 of the Alaska 

16 Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1606) is amend17 ed— 

18 (1) in subsection (j)— 

19 (A) by striking ‘‘(j) During’’ and inserting 

20 the following: 

21 ‘‘(j) DISTRIBUTION OF CORPORATE FUNDS AND

22 OTHER NET INCOME.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—During’’; 

24 (B) by striking ‘‘Not less’’ and inserting 

25 the following: 


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1 ‘‘(2) MINIMUM ALLOCATION.—Not less’’; 

2 (C) by striking ‘‘In the case’’ and inserting 

3 the following: 

4 ‘‘(3) THIRTEENTH REGIONAL CORPORATION.— 

5 In the case’’; and 

6 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(4) NATIVE VILLAGES OF HAINES, KETCH8 IKAN, PETERSBURG, TENAKEE, AND WRANGELL.— 

9 Native members of the Native Villages of Haines, 

10 Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell who 

11 become shareholders in an Urban Corporation for 

12 such a Native Village shall continue to be eligible to 

13 receive distributions under this subsection as at14 large shareholders of the Regional Corporation for 

15 Southeast Alaska.’’; and 

16 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(s) EFFECT OF AMENDATORY ACT.—Section 2 of 

18 the ANCSA Unrecognized Community Landless Natives 

19 Authorization Act of 2017 and the amendments made by 

20 that section shall not affect— 

21 ‘‘(1) the ratio for determination of revenue dis22 tribution among Native Corporations under this sec23 tion; or 


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1 ‘‘(2) the settlement agreement among Regional 

2 Corporation or Village Corporations or other provi3 sions of subsection (i) or (j).’’. 

4 (e) COMPENSATION.—The Alaska Native Claims Set5 tlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) is amended by add6 ing at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 43. URBAN CORPORATIONS FOR HAINES, KETCHIKAN, 

8 PETERSBURG, TENAKEE, AND WRANGELL. 

9 ‘‘(a) OFFER OF COMPENSATION.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—On incorporation of the 

11 Urban Corporations for Haines, Ketchikan, Peters12 burg, Tenakee, and Wrangell, the Secretary, in con13 sultation and coordination with the Secretary of 

14 Commerce, and in consultation with representatives 

15 of each such Urban Corporation and the Regional 

16 Corporation for Southeast Alaska, shall offer as 

17 compensation, pursuant to this Act, 1 township of 

18 land (23,040 acres) to each of the Urban Corpora19 tions for Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, 

20 and Wrangell, in accordance with this subsection. 

21 ‘‘(2) LOCAL AREAS OF HISTORICAL, CULTURAL, 

22 TRADITIONAL, AND ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

24 offer as compensation under this subsection 

25 local areas of historical, cultural, traditional, 


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1 and economic importance to Alaska Natives 

2 from the Villages of Haines, Ketchikan, Peters3 burg, Tenakee, or Wrangell. 

4 ‘‘(B) SELECTION OF LAND.—In selecting 

5 the land to be withdrawn and conveyed pursu6 ant to this section, the Secretary— 

7 ‘‘(i) shall give preference to land with 

8 commercial purposes; 

9 ‘‘(ii) may include subsistence and cul10 tural sites, aquaculture sites, hydroelectric 

11 sites, tideland, surplus Federal property, 

12 and eco-tourism sites; and 

13 ‘‘(iii) shall not include land within a 

14 conservation system unit (as defined in 

15 section 102 of the Alaska National Interest 

16 Lands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 

17 3102)). 

18 ‘‘(C) CONTIGUOUS, COMPACT SITES.—The 

19 land selected pursuant to this section shall be 

20 contiguous and reasonably compact tracts if 

21 practicable. 

22 ‘‘(D) VALID EXISTING RIGHTS.—The land 

23 selected pursuant to this section shall be subject 

24 to all valid existing rights and all other provi25 sions of section 14(g), including any lease, conVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:26 Jul 11, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1491.IS S1491

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1 tract, permit, right-of-way, or easement (includ2 ing a lease issued under section 6(g) of the Act 

3 of July 7, 1958 (commonly known as the ‘Alas4 ka Statehood Act’) (48 U.S.C. note prec. 21; 

5 Public Law 85–508)). 

6 ‘‘(b) ACCEPTANCE OR REJECTION OF OFFER.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

8 the date of the offer of compensation from the Sec9 retary under subsection (a), each of the Urban Cor10 porations for Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, 

11 Tenakee, and Wrangell shall accept or reject the 

12 offer. 

13 ‘‘(2) RESOLUTION.—To accept or reject the 

14 offer, each such Urban Corporation shall provide to 

15 the Secretary a properly executed and certified cor16 porate resolution that states that the offer proposed 

17 by the Secretary was voted on, and either approved 

18 or rejected, by a majority of the shareholders of the 

19 Urban Corporation. 

20 ‘‘(3) REJECTION OF OFFER.—If the offer is re21 jected— 

22 ‘‘(A) the Secretary, in consultation with 

23 representatives of the Urban Corporation that 

24 rejected the offer and the Regional Corporation 

25 for Southeast Alaska, shall revise the offer; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) the Urban Corporation shall have an 

2 additional 180 days within which to accept or 

3 reject the revised offer. 

4 ‘‘(c) WITHDRAWAL AND CONVEYANCE OF LAND AND

5 TITLE.—Not later than 180 days after receipt of a cor6 porate resolution of an Urban Corporation approving an 

7 offer of the Secretary under subsection (b)(1), the Sec8 retary shall (as appropriate)— 

9 ‘‘(1) withdraw the land; 

10 ‘‘(2) convey to the Urban Corporation title to 

11 the surface estate of the land; and 

12 ‘‘(3) convey to the Regional Corporation for 

13 Southeast Alaska title the subsurface estate for the 

14 land. 

15 ‘‘(d) CONVEYANCE OF ROADS, TRAILS, LOG TRANS16 FER FACILITIES, LEASES, AND APPURTENANCES.—The 

17 Secretary shall, without consideration of compensation, 

18 convey to the Urban Corporations of Haines, Ketchikan, 

19 Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell, by quitclaim deed or 

20 patent, all right, title, and interest of the United States 

21 in all roads, trails, log transfer facilities, leases, and ap22 purtenances on or related to the land conveyed to the Cor23 porations pursuant to subsection (c). 

24 ‘‘(e) SETTLEMENT TRUST.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Urban Corporations of 

2 Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and 

3 Wrangell may establish a settlement trust in accord4 ance with section 39 for the purposes of promoting 

5 the health, education, and welfare of the trust bene6 ficiaries, and preserving the Native heritage and cul7 ture, of the communities of Haines, Ketchikan, Pe8 tersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell, respectively. 

9 ‘‘(2) PROCEEDS AND INCOME.—The proceeds 

10 and income from the principal of a trust established 

11 under paragraph (1) shall— 

12 ‘‘(A) first be applied to the support of 

13 those enrollees, and the descendants of the en14 rollees, who are elders or minor children; and 

15 ‘‘(B) then to the support of all other en16 rollees.’’. 

Æ 


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